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Shocking cost of utility bills

Unlike most states, Ohio allows unregulated, third-party "submeter" companies to make big profits by reselling electricity and water to residents of apartments and condominiums. This special report looks at the elevated rates charged by these companies, threats of eviction and what lawmakers intend to do about this issue.

Consumer protection for utility customers sometimes stops at the
apartment door in Ohio.

Unlike most states, Ohio allows unregulated, third-party "submeter" companies to make big
profits by reselling electricity and water to residents of apartments and condominiums.

Consumer protection for utility customers sometimes stops at the apartment door in Ohio. Unlike most states, Ohio allows unregulated, third-party “submeter” companies to make big profits by reselling electricity and water to residents of apartments and condominiums. “They pretty much told me that I don’t have a choice and this is how it is,” said Rachelle Sexton, who rents at the Enclave at Albany Park in Westerville.

In the early 1980s, Harry Apostolos looked at the way apartment owners paid for utilities and he saw a textbook case of market inefficiency. Most owners paid tenants’ water bills as part of the rent, and that left the residents with no incentive to conserve. Apostolos, who had just earned a master’s degree in economics from Ohio State University, decided to start a business that would provide what he saw as a better option.

Among the dozens of people who face eviction each morning in a Downtown courtroom, there are some who have made all of their rent payments. Their mistake was a late utility bill. While regulated utility companies do not evict customers, the same does not apply to “submeter” companies that handle electricity and water billing for some apartments and condominiums.